


Ensnared

by shuckit



Category: The Maze Runner (Movies), The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types, The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: Before the Maze (Maze Runner), F/F, Pre-The Maze Runner, The Maze Runner Spoilers, WICKED | WCKD (World In Catastrophe: Killzone Experiment Department)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-06
Updated: 2018-08-21
Packaged: 2019-05-02 19:34:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14551926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shuckit/pseuds/shuckit
Summary: Before the maze trials have even begun, Teresa strikes up an unlikely friendship with a WICKED employee named Brenda. Each soft smile leads to another and Teresa feels love beginning to ensnare her in its trap. . .





	1. o n e

The pounding at the door caught Teresa by surprise.

She'd been sprawled across her narrow bed, staring up at the ceiling as thoughts shifted through her mind; of Thomas and Minho and Newt and the others, of the flare. . . of the cure. Teresa could barely remember the days when she had woken up without a cure-oriented thought in her head. At one point in her life, she had been free. And within a short space of time, her life had suddenly been reduced to medical tests, long classes, white walls, tiled floors and florescent lights. The only brief glimpses and hints of her previous life—of freedom—were when she was with her friends. Hidden away in some part of the facility with stashed food and laughter on their lips. They had nothing but their companionship and in a certain sense, it was all they needed.

Teresa lifted herself into a sitting position, propping herself up with her arms. She'd learned throughout time only Thomas would knock and wait before entering. WICKED employees barged in without hesitation whether she responded or not.

The door was shoved open. WICKED it was, then.

An unfamiliar woman dressed primly in white with strangely irritating features entered the room and smiled sweetly. Sickeningly sweet. Teresa couldn't explain her automatic distaste for the woman. Maybe it was the demeanor she held, as if she was the most important person in the room. And she clearly was. But Teresa couldn't help but feel a stomach-lurching frustration.

"Hi," Teresa voiced.

"Hello, Teresa. I'm Miss Klide." The woman's voice was nasally and her breathing came in short, weird gasps as if her lungs lacked sufficient oxygen. "Today, you'll have the opportunity to join some WICKED volunteers and assist in conducting some research. A berg will fly you to a specific flare-infested part of the world—" she paused to inhale heavily, "—It will be a very interesting experience, for you and hopefully for us." Another sugary smile.

Teresa stared at the woman, unblinking. She couldn't find appropriate words. She'd waited so long for a chance to escape the cold walls of the WICKED facility. And so suddenly and abruptly, an opportunity had been thrown at her with no information whatsoever. Teresa's first instinct was to call out to Thomas but she internally stopped herself; she had so many questions she wanted to deal with first. Before she could even open her mouth, Miss Klide resumed speaking.

"I'm sure you have many questions. I promise they'll be answered on the berg ride there. Brenda is good company, she will be able to explain far better than I can." Miss Klide straightened her shoulders and sucked in a labored breath, smoothing down the front of her already smooth clothing.

"Brenda?" It was all Teresa could find to say. She felt an intense longing to escape, even if it included doing research. She was glad to be helpful but more importantly, she desired the brush of a cool breeze against her skin. When was the last time she'd felt wind? The sun? Heard anything other than medical beeps and hushed voices? She wanted out of these cold walls, long halls and underlying secrets.

"Yes. I'm sure you'll get along perfectly—she's your age, I believe. Now, come along with me. We'll have to hurry if you'd like to finish our research before the sun sets."

For the first time Teresa could recall, she exited her room with the knowledge she wasn't going to another classroom or small locked room. She was going to view a shred of the world and what it held; its expansive landscape and wildlife. Or what remained of it, anyway.

With a small smile planted firmly on her lips, Teresa felt an emotion she could barely even remember feeling—excitement.


	2. t w o

The trip to the berg was admittedly torture. Teresa was rarely annoyed but she'd never heard anyone breathe so noisily as Miss Klide seemed to do as they glided down several long hallways. Each inhale and exhale was like the wooshing of a toilet, for lack of a better analogy. Teresa fought the temptation to cup her hands around her ears, knowing exactly the reaction she'd get. An ever-so-sweet smile. That was all the woman seemed capable of doing. No answers, no conversation, just an every now and then disgustingly sweet smile.

It was no surprise that a breath of relief escaped Teresa's lips as the berg came into sight.

"Ah, here we go, Teresa." Miss Klide gestured towards the large machinery. "I believe Brenda will meet you inside. This is where our paths separate."

Teresa tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, nodding. She gritted her teeth to stop herself from saying something she'd immediately regret. Something along the lines of 'thank the blessed, holy, almighty heavens'.

Knowing there was no point in sticking around Miss Klide and her obnoxious breathing, Teresa gratefully headed towards the berg. Teresa had seen bergs before and learned about them but never had she actually entered one. The aerial vehicle with it's large wings and whirring blades was impressive to say the least. A powerful hum vibrated throughout it's body. Teresa couldn't help but wish she'd learn how to use a berg one day. 

Despite her initial excitement and relief, a tingle of caution crept up Teresa's spine as she advanced across the ramp leading into the berg and entered its depths.

The aircraft was surprisingly less impressive than Teresa had expected. Her gaze roamed across the dimly lighted panorama, slowly adjusting to the lack of light. Suddenly, from out of the dwelling shadows, a girl smoothly surfaced. Immediately, Teresa's gaze snapped towards her. Her quick reaction was understandable - the girl was like a magnet with an aura so wild and convincing, it would be impossible not to notice her. On top of that, she was beautiful. Thick, dark hair fell to her collarbones and she had pronounced lips, a smooth glow to her complexion and a daring light in her soft brown eyes.

"Hey, darling, I'm Brenda." The girl reached Teresa, extending a hand to shake. Her lips curved into a broad grin.

Teresa reached out to shake the girl's hand, her soft palms meeting with the girl's rough, calloused fingers. "Hi, I'm Teresa," she replied, a smile of her own gracing her features.

"I know." Brenda smiled knowingly in an oddly effective way—as if she knew all of the world's hidden secrets.

An unwelcome, surprising twist in her stomach alerted Teresa that the berg was moving. Slowly lifting into the air inch by inch. She realized with a grim trace of dread—she'd never been in the air before. Well, perhaps when she'd been young, but this was so very different. And Teresa really didn't want to accidentally puke on this attractive girl.

"Come, there's a couch in the back." Brenda turned swiftly, leading the way towards the back of the aircraft with Teresa following closely behind.

"How are we conducting research out. . . there?" Teresa watched as Brenda plopped onto an ugly, flowery couch before sliding onto the cushion next to her. At least they wouldn't have to stand the whole ride. Although Teresa was confident she'd seen a suspicious looking stain on the armrest which certainly didn't help the queasy churning in her stomach.

"We'll be seeing how cranks react when they're exposed to things from their past—toys, family pictures, et cetera." Brenda grabbed a backpack from behind the couch, lifting it to display the contents to Teresa. Inside, Teresa could see a variation of different objects and sorts. They were all completely random and unfamiliar but they must have meant something to the deranged, insane cranks at one point.

"Where'd you find all of this? How do we know what stuff is associated with which crank?"

"We do what WICKED tells us and we don't ask questions. But we get launchers," Brenda winked. "I'll teach you how to use one."

"'We'?"

Brenda nodded, lifting a hand to point at the pilot's seat. "That's my bud, Jorge. He's the best pilot in the world. I can assure you of that."

Teresa could only see the back of his shoulder as the chair blocked her view. But he seemed to have heard their topic of conversation as he lifted a hand to wave at them. A subconscious smile crossed Teresa's features as she turned, her gaze falling on Brenda once more.

The berg hit an airpocket, suddenly dropping through the air like a falling stone before steadying itself. Teresa's face scrunched up as she tried to hold on to her breakfast. She could practically feel the colour of her face shifting into an unpleasant shade of green. 

"Whoa there, bub."

Teresa had screwed her eyes shut but she warily opened them, blinking as she viewed Brenda's mildly concerned face expression. "I'm fine," she reassured the girl, attempting a smile. "I've just never. . . been on a berg before."

"Here," Brenda reached to grab a bottle of water from behind the couch, offering it quickly to Teresa. "We'll get there soon." Another brief, glowing smile appeared on her features as she reached out to touch Teresa's arm. "I'll go tell Jorge to slim it."

Teresa watched as Brenda stood, leaving her with a bottle of water and the memory of her calloused fingers brushing against her skin.


	3. t h r e e

The berg's door slid open and a wave of heat cascaded across Teresa's body. She'd made it through the ride without vomiting but she would be glad to feel solid ground beneath her feet again.

Brenda had already warned her of the scorch—what they called the barren, dry wasteland of a place. The WICKED compound was safe, comfortable enough, and cool. The scorch was the complete opposite in every way and Teresa wasn't accustomed to the heat at all. Even Brenda's warning hadn't quite prepared Teresa for the intense heat radiating off of the sun and shining brightly in her eyes.

Brenda hopped down, the backpack containing the variety of objects thrown across her back. She held two launchers in her arms and in the bright sunlight, Teresa could see streaks of dirt, dust and what resembled dry blood caking her clothing. Throughout the majority of her life, Teresa had been surrounded with primly clothed adults with the exception of her few friends. Brenda was so completely different, so wild and enthralling and intriguing. . .

"You coming?"

Teresa hopped out of the berg to join Brenda, suddenly self-conscious about her own contrasting clothing.

"Here," Brenda extended a launcher towards Teresa. "You put your hand here. . . and the other here. . ." the girl directed Teresa's hands to the right positions before releasing her grasp on the gun. It was surprisingly heavy and bulky in Teresa's arms and almost immediately, she felt uncomfortable. Sure, she was confident she could use it. But it was strange and unfamiliar in contrast to everything she'd handled before.

"Where are the cranks?" Teresa murmured as she slowly turned around, viewing her surroundings. Dry ground, a clear sky, and in the distance, the forms of a city.

"That's where we're headed—" Brenda gestured towards the city, a glow of excitement in her eyes. "It's not as far as it looks. Jorge will be on standby if anything happens."

Teresa allowed a quick smile to grace her features before nodding firmly. She was ready—more ready than she could imagine herself ever being.

\+ + + +

The truth was, Teresa was not ready.

Their trek towards the city was far shorter than she'd predicted but even so, sweat quickly formed as she moved forwards, step by step with the sun bearing down on her. As she dared a glimpse at Brenda every now and then, Teresa could see her companion seeming to be walking with ease as if the sun and heat were completely nonexistent. And Brenda was the one with the added weight of the backpack!

"I really need to work out more," Teresa huffed as she rubbed her forehead with a sweaty palm, finding each step harder and harder.

Brenda laughed—a husky, melodious sound. She nudged Teresa with a palm to the small of her back, pushing her forwards. "I promise we're almost there. And then the fun begins."

Without even looking, Teresa could hear the smile in Brenda's voice. Somehow, that little fact seemed to add the sufficient energy to put one foot in front of the other.

Soon enough, the city's structures loomed before them – far different than anything Teresa was used to. Every window had been smashed clean through, glass littering the streets like snow. The sun reflected off of the empty buildings giving the thick air a lonely, solemn feeling.

"What a lovely place," Brenda hummed sarcastically.

"Love to live here one day," Teresa replied softly, in the same tone.

There was a lingering moment of silence before Teresa's curiosity got the best of her. She glanced towards her companion, the sun glowing on Brenda's features, illuminating every beautiful, defined feature. "Where are you from?"

A shadow fell across Brenda's clear features as if dark memories had resurfaced simply by mentioning her past. "Northern Canada—around Vancouver," she murmured, marching forwards steadfastly, entering the city with a bold lack of caution.

"What made you work for Wicked?" Teresa questioned, glancing up to glare at the silhouette of the city's grand structures against the pale blue sky.

"It's a depressing story," Brenda murmured quietly, her voice laced with a strange darkness that Teresa hadn't identified before. As wild and interesting as she seemed, clearly not everything in her past had been sunshine and rainbows. She must have endured some form of sadness to end up with that hollow trace in her voice. 

"I've had my share of depressing," Teresa replied in a soft murmur. "It's probably not even comparable to what the flare has caused some people, though."

The conversation lulled into a short, thoughtful silence before Teresa felt Brenda's intense gaze trained on her. Lifting her head, Teresa glanced at the girl's smooth, weary features.

"We all go through different crap, Teresa. Don't belittle what you had to go through because somebody else had it worse."

For a brief moment, their locked gazes lingered on one another before Brenda tore her gaze away, breaking the stare. Teresa fumbled for the right words to reply but somehow silence seemed better. 

The duo continued moving, Brenda leading the way into the eerie, broken street. She seemed to know where she was going so Teresa held her tongue from questioning. Onward, to the left, another left, down an alley, past a junkyard. . . The scenery was so captivating and strange, Teresa would have loved to wander about the city for hours but with alarmingly short notice, Brenda pulled short.

"Here we are. The crank huts."

Stretched out in front of them were various large structures built decades ago. They looked so weak a summer breeze could cause them to collapse. But from the wide doorways, some nearly gone cranks milled around sluggishly. It was an eerie, ominous sight and immediately, the queasiness of the afternoon's berg returned to Teresa's stomach. She clenched her teeth, tightly gripping her launcher and taking a safer step towards Brenda. Within the short amount of time they'd known each other, Teresa already felt a sense of security in her confident, bold demeanor. 

Brenda had noticed Teresa's absentminded shift towards her as the crank huts came into sight and an immediate smirk appeared swiftly on her lips. Trying to recompose herself, Brenda rubbed her fingers against her lips and straightened her narrow shoulders. "Alright, we'd better get started. Our first guy is named Edmond Hilter." She had whipped out a random folder of information from the backpack, her soft brown gaze roaming across the page. "He's recognizable by a three inch scar across his left cheek and his red hair. He's mid-twenties and we'll bring him a. . ." Her brows furrowed together for a moment before a raspy laugh escaped her throat. "We're bringing him a pregnant Barbie. You can do the honors of finding it," Brenda chuckled as she tossed the backpack towards Teresa.

Within a couple seconds, Teresa had found the pregnant blonde doll, her large stomach the indication of pregnancy. 

"I definitely never had one of these as a kid," Teresa murmured, partly to herself as she handed it to Brenda.

"I'm sure you always wanted one," Brenda teased before pointing towards the closest hut. "Stick with me, bub. Keep calm and easy and everything will go fine. Only use the launcher if you need to."

Despite Brenda's easygoing and resolute behavior, Teresa's stomach tied itself in knots as she nodded firmly, trying desperately to pretend she was perfectly capable of this. She wasn't a wimp and for an explainable reason, she wanted Brenda to know that.

As soon as they entered the hut, they spotted Edmond.

 A benefiting factor was the fact that the entire hut was empty except for him. He was a mangled, bloody mess. His reddish hair was sticking up in every direction and the scar on his cheek was bleeding vibrantly. The hut stunk like a dead corpse and yet Teresa felt a solid flame of courage fueling her forwards. Like Brenda had said, this was going to go fine.

Holding the pregnant Barbie in her hand, Brenda warily lifted it in the air. Edmond's head snapped towards them, spit dribbling down his chin. His gaze locked upon the child's toy and for a split second, his eyes seemed to almost soften and faintly glisten. But it barely lasted a second before his features distorted into an enraged expression of anger. And in a dramatic explosion, time seemed to stop. The crank twisted towards them, flinging himself directly at Brenda. His body barreled into hers and the two went crashing to the ground. In any normal situation, Teresa was sure she would have panicked but somehow, a deep calm flooded her veins as she charged forwards, giving the crank a heavy kick to the ribs. He toppled off of Brenda and at once, the two females yanked against the launcher's triggers at the same time. The two guns went off, sending double the electricity rocketing and crackling across the crank's squirming body.

Brenda shoved herself to her feet, blood streaked across her forehead and chin. Her dark hair was a mess, her clothing caked with mud and dirt and there was a wild, beautiful look in her brown eyes.

"Teresa, that was fucking fantastic."

And in that pure moment, Teresa knew with a sincere finality that her heart had been stolen. Or, for the sake of poetic description, _ensnared._


	4. f o u r

"Teresa, this is incredible."

Doctor Ava Paige was reading the scribbled information Teresa had scrawled into a file on the trip back from the scorch, explaining the research she'd conducted with Brenda. Ava Paige's smooth features were radiating with an emotion Teresa had rarely ever seen on the doctor's facial features before. Happiness?

After Brenda and Teresa had returned from their trip nearly unscathed, they'd had interesting results to share. While in the scorch, Brenda would display an object and in almost every case, a flicker of vulnerability would pass across the crank's features before shifting into an ugly anger. Teresa would always hit the crank with a launcher's bullet before the crank had the chance to transform it's anger into action. 

Although their parting had been bittersweet—a soft, "that was fun!" from Teresa and a husky promise from Brenda that they'd do something cool again, Teresa was feeling pretty great.

They'd finally reached a breakthrough.

Within the twenty minutes since Teresa had returned, the news had spread like wildfire and it was as if the scientists had retrieved their forgotten hope and were working full throttle to find the cure. Ava Paige, the head doctor, specifically seemed to find the evidence interesting.

"I was enthralled to see what would come from your trip to the scorch but I never could have expected such large results."

"Are you sure they're that huge?" Teresa murmured, examining Doctor Paige's expression carefully. "Wouldn't it be logical for the cranks to experience some sort of trigger from past emotional objects?"

"I don't think you understand, Teresa. This is completely new information to us. Ever since cranks have infested the planet, we've had no hope in actually restoring their memories to them. But this, Teresa. This is important." Touching Teresa's shoulder, Ava Paige's features looked so genuinely sincere and heartfelt, it was impossible for Teresa not to marginally believe her.

Sometimes Teresa was like that. When it was so clear someone was speaking directly from their truest and realest emotions, a part of her automatically trusted them. Believed them. She found herself occasionally wondering if it was a negative thing—if it could lead to something so much more complicated than she wanted to be involved in. Brainwashing? Was she that gullible? Vulnerable? Perhaps it wasn't the weak adjectives that resulted in brainwashing, more so the strong—the empathetic ability to understand people more than others and the trust that came with it.

That was enough thinking—sometimes Teresa longed for the ability to just make her brain. . . shut up.

\+ + + +

_Teresa._

One of the only parts of her brain she rarely wanted to shut up was her link with Thomas.

_Hey, Tom._

_Where the hell have you been? I thought you were in class but when I was walking past your room—_

_Ava got me to go conduct research in the scorch._  Teresa was lying flat on her bed, gaze trained at the ceiling. Her evening classes had been canceled due to her trip to the scorch and she was all too thankful for it.

_The scorch?_

_Yeah. It used to be a city once—New York, I think—but now it's a wasteland. It's actually really cool, Tom. I wish you'd been there._

_Yeah, it sounds cool. Why the heck couldn't I go?_  Even without being in the same room, she could sense the frustration erupting from his words.

 _I don't know._  The murmured words vocally escaped her lips despite the fact he was too far to hear it in any other way than their connection.

A pause plunged into their conversation as the two teenagers remained occupied with their own thoughts. Teresa lifted herself into a sitting position, looking to her reflection in the mirror. Her dark hair was tied up in a bun, a couple strands escaping at the nape of her neck. A pale, long sleeved turtleneck clung to her form. Clear blue eyes stared back at her, trying to evaluate herself from somebody else's eyes. From Brenda's eyes. What did she think of her? What thoughts ran through her head when looking at her? Was she a science lab rat compared to Brenda's freedom and vivaciousness? A pet? A kid?

_What are you thinking about?_

Thomas's voice startled her as a sigh escaped her lips and she fell back into her original, lying down position.  _People's perception of me._

_Like who?_

Ah, Tom. He knew just how to get to the details. Undoubtedly, one thing about Thomas was that he constantly asked a lot of questions. And yet, he always knew the exact right ones to ask.  

 _I don't really know. Everybody's, I guess. This girl I met today, Brenda._  Teresa rolled onto her side, tracing her fingertip along the white sheets.  _She's so. . . I don't know, I can't figure out what goes on inside her head._

_A tough cookie? An unsolvable puzzle? Woah, has Teresa finally found the one for her?_

_Shut up, Tom._  She could detect the teasing tone in his voice and a small smile absentmindedly curled the edges of her lips.

_Oh my gosh, I'm not wrong this time._

_Slim it, bud, or you got yourself a one way ticket to the crank infested scorch._

_Sounds cool to me._

Teresa rolled her eyes, smiling to herself before nudging the conversation in a different direction.  _On the topic of love interests, how's Newt doing?_

_I don't like—_

_Oh, sure, sweetie._  Tone layered with sarcasm, Teresa shook her head. Thomas was so clearly crushing on Newt, she was surprised the gang hadn't found out about it yet. Nobody else mastered the starstruck heart-eyes expression quite like Thomas when the blond walked into the room.

_I declare this romance topic over and done with._

_Good that._

A comfortable silence fell thickly between their words, layering their thoughts with a masked solitude. Despite their conversation about romance having ended, Teresa couldn't get Brenda's darn face out of her head. It wasn't her looks that managed to keep resurfacing in Teresa's mind time and time again. It was more so the fact she was so wildly different than anybody Teresa had ever met before. Within a brief encounter, Teresa could gather enough information about someone to understand them. But Brenda was different. Even after their several hours together in the city, Teresa couldn't quite understand her or get into her head. Brenda was pieced together with question after question and the answers were too far out of reach.

 

 Ah, shuck, Tom was right. Teresa really did fall for the unsolvable puzzle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> forgive me for the whole "IdK wHaT gOeS oN iN hEr HeAd" cheesy bit & also how often i add — & all of my other grammar errors thanKs


	5. f i v e

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this has been developing super weirdly w/ one day taking up 4 chapters and then months passing between chapters 4 and 5 so i'm vry sorry for how messy it is :( 
> 
> thank u to riddlemaster who motivated me to get back on this. i forgot how fun it is to write brenderesa . ok that's all byebye

The weeks flew by like uncomprehensible minutes. Each one lasted only long enough to give Teresa a sense of stability before flashing by as if time had been dramatically altered and sped up. The days were stocked with classes, tests, and hushed whispers of progress—specifically with the maze trials. Both her and Thomas had been occupying almost every second that they weren't in classes with helping build the maze. Watching their work bloom and flourish was an incredibly gratifying feeling and every night Teresa would fall asleep with a proud and content feeling swirling in her stomach. She hoped her parents, in whatever realm existed after death, were proud of her. 

Amid the busy, tumultous life at the facility, her friendship group had gone through its challenges as well. Newt, Minho and Alby had constructed the idea to take Thomas and Teresa into the outside world, only to be caught by WICKED. They were forced to venture into the crank pits as punishment where they witnessed cranks firsthand and the flare-ravaged founder of WICKED killed, a sight permanently scarring Teresa's memories. For a while afterwards they didn't have secret meetings in the maintenance room but Teresa managed to hack WICKED's security system to allow the friends to meet again. Soon after, Minho and Gally tried to escape but were caught which resulted in the group being forced to watch Minho being traumatized with a new mechanical test of WICKED's called a Griever. 

With all of this, Teresa had nearly forgotten about Brenda. Nearly. Every now and then the brown-eyed girl would visit her thoughts with her raspy voice, pronounced lips and calloused palms. Teresa avoided thinking of her momentary crush, knowing all too well how unrealistic the chances were of meeting again.

And so it was a complete and utter surprise when Teresa awoke with the girl's features merely a couple inches distance from hers.

Understandably, her first reaction was fear and self-defense. Teresa reared backwards, grabbing a fistful of her thick blanket and flinging the entire blanket over Brenda's head. Immediately, she hurled herself at the girl, both of them toppling onto the polished floor with a thud.

"Chill it!" Brenda hissed, her voice muffled from underneath the blanket as she tried to push Teresa off of her.

The shock washed across Teresa in torrents as she attempted to process what was happening, while planted on Brenda's stomach. "Why are you here?" She argued, pushing Brenda's shoulders down. "It's the middle of the night." Brenda was clearly much more physically capable than Teresa and she was not willing to see how they'd do in a fight. She was impressed with herself simply for managing to get the girl on the floor, under her grasp.

"Can you let me breathe? For a hot sec? I'm not here to murder you or whatever the hell you're so scared of."

Teresa's grip loosened and she rolled off, assembling herself into a criss-cross-apple-sauce position on the floor. "Sorry."

"It's fine, sugar," Brenda responded simply as she scrambled smoothly out of the torrent of blankets with relief. She didn't bother to smooth her hair as she immediately cocked her head at Teresa. "Wow, you really freaked out, huh?"

Teresa wrapped her arms around her midsection and offered an apologetic smile. "It's been ages, it was so out of the blue. . . you couldn't have given a forewarning?"

Brenda lifted her shoulders and dropped them in a loose shrug. "They don't tell me anything. I gave WICKED some ideas for more research opportunities we could do but I wasn't expecting them to listen. They just throw their orders at me and I just do what I'm told and I get it done. But this time it was my idea they ordered," she winked.

Teresa pushed herself to her feet, stooping to grab the crumpled blanket and toss it back onto her bed. "So what's that clever idea of yours? Scare the living daylights out of me at some god forsaken time and then vanish again for what feels like forever?"

There was a momentary silence as Brenda shoved her hands into the zippered pockets of her dusty green cargo pants and stared with concentrated focus at Teresa. "Aw, did you miss me?"

"Um, well—"

"Nah, don't ruin it. You missed me." Brenda smiled smugly at the prospect as if it was exactly how she'd plotted things to go; the story unraveling just as she'd written it. She spun around to look in Teresa's mirror, rearranging how her clothing fit and smoothing down her dark, cropped hair. "Change quick and meet me in the hallway," she instructed with a daring flash in her eyes, "when was the last time you've seen the stars?"

\+ + + +

Teresa changed in a rush, her fingers moving too slowly for her thudding pulse. The stars, so simplistic but so endlessly beautiful. One glance at the stars was a glimpse into the universe. She could remember a distant time as a child, when the name Deedee had been her own, she'd slept under the blanket of the universe—the night sky. Times had been so different then but the peppered, twinkling stars would ever stay the same. It was a comforting piece of information knowing that something connected to her childhood was still the same and always would. For the first time in eons, she would get to see the stars again.

She pulled on a cotton-gray shirt along with a comfortable jacket. Even the globe's current warmth couldn't take away the friendly cold nip of an Alaskan night.

Brenda was waiting for Teresa in the hallway, leaning against Thomas' door. Once Teresa had exited her room and softly closed the door behind her, Brenda was already up and leading the way.

"Can I get a fraction of an explanation at least?" Teresa questioned as she quickened her pace enough to catch up.

"I'll let you know when we get there," Brenda reassured, her arms swinging by her sides.

Teresa chewed the inside of her cheek, biting her tongue to keep herself from asking any other questions rocketing inside her mind. Instead, she pulled her dark hair into a messily arranged bun, a distraction from her thoughts and a way to keep her hair out of her face.

They entered doorways, went up stairs, turned corners and became entangled in the complicated mapwork of the building. Teresa knew the compound's blueprint as if it had been tattooed on the inside of her eyelids, the result of years and years passed behind the sterile walls. But within a few minutes she was lost and completely dependant on Brenda's confidence as she weaved her way through the hallways.

At last, after a suffocating staircase and a short, narrow hallway, Brenda pointed to a stout stool and a hatch above their heads. "We've reached the roof. I'll go first," she said, quickly hopping onto the stool and twisting the hatch open. Fresh air cascaded across Teresa's features and her lips parted to breathe in the cool, refreshing breeze. Brenda clambered out, pulling her body upwards until she vanished from view. Teresa followed suit, stepping onto the stool before pulling herself out onto the roof with the body strength she possessed.

Finally. The night encompassed her, the breeze tugging at her hair and the faint smell of pine trees and salt water tinging the air. She tipped her head upwards to see the sky and the breath was stolen from her lips as the expanse of inky black and scattered white stars unfolded above her.

There was a raspy chuckle and the exhale of air by her ear. Teresa painfully tore her gaze away from the night sky, finding Brenda's hazel brown gaze. She had the kind of stoic, brave gaze that you could get lost in. So daring, so bold, so Brenda.

"Thank you, Brenda," she whispered, the words tossed in the breeze.

A fleeting smile. "It's not my doing but you're welcome, buttercup."

For once, there was detectible emotion hidden in Brenda's sturdy gaze. A brief hint that emotions actually broiled behind the surface of her finely crafted features.

For a passing second, Teresa thought she saw some affection in it, too. But it was gone like a puff of smoke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i describe things so dramatically its honest to god so embarassing but in my defense its nearly 3am so ive spent 3 hours working and writing on this maybe im going a little wack


End file.
